Skye Chilton is the second generation of his family to lead Nammex, which was founded by his father Jeff. As the company founder, Jeff has deep, longstanding relationships with China’s top researchers and growers of medicinal mushrooms, and the current team is continuing to strengthen these important ties as the company expands. Since 1989, Nammex has pioneered the cultivation of organic mushrooms and development of high-quality mushroom extracts to support consumer health and wellness. For over 30 years, Nammex has been a leader in advancing the scientific understanding of mushroom extracts and commercial use of scientifically validated analytical methods for quality control testing of fungal products. 

Health E-Insights (HEI): Why do you think mushrooms have become so trendy?

Chilton: Mushrooms fit well into the bigger trend of people wanting more natural ways to stay healthy. They are a somewhat overlooked food in many people’s diets that have now emerged into the superfoods category. Mushrooms have a mysterious nature to them. They can feed you, heal you, or kill you, so there’s something intriguing in the magical nature of mushrooms. Because of that, I think it comes as no surprise when people find out mushrooms have important health benefits.

HEI: The functional mushroom market has led to the development of innovative product lines, particularly in mushroom coffee. What are your thoughts?

Chilton: Mushroom coffee is a great example of tapping into an existing habit and replacing it with something new but similar. Given the size of the mushroom coffee market, it shows how well mushroom coffee brands have done that. They have convinced consumers that replacing their coffee with something familiar but a bit more health conscious is a good thing. You can see this being played out in many categories right now like functional beverages, bars, and chocolate.

HEI: Sustainability has played a significant role in the growth factors.

Chilton: Mushrooms can be grown very sustainably. Nammex Reishi mushrooms are grown on wood logs from forests that have been planted and managed using rotational cropping cycles. The trees from these forests are processed for multiple uses and the sawdust by-product is utilized as a primary substrate for growing the majority of our mushrooms. The leftover wood material might otherwise be wasted but by upcycling the sawdust for mushroom growing the farmers produce a valuable crop and help reduce waste production.

Most of the farms growing our mushrooms use little to no electricity, just ambient temperatures and natural light, and the mushrooms are air dried. Our production partner’s solar panels actually produce more power than they use to process our mushrooms.

HEI: What are the health benefits of mushrooms, and do you see them transforming our health?

Chilton: The best understood health benefits of mushrooms surround immune system regulation — keeping our immune system in balance. Some mushrooms have been investigated for other benefits, and the body of science is growing. Lion’s mane, for instance, shows strong indicators of being able to support healthy cognitive function and Reishi for promoting relaxation. There is growing evidence of Cordyceps’ ability to support energy and lung health.

More recently, emerging research on ergothioneine has shown promise as a so-called longevity vitamin. Ergothioneine is an exogenous amino acid with its primary source being fungi. It is present in every one of our cells and data shows that this amount declines as we age. Modern diets and mass agriculture have lowered our overall ergothioneine intake so supplementation with mushrooms can show positive outcomes for many health markers.

As the mushroom category continues to grow and understanding of their benefits becomes mainstream, I see mushrooms emerging as more of a staple in our medicine cabinets and at the dinner table. Personally, having grown up with one of the world’s top mushroom experts, namely my father Jeff Chilton, I’ve known that they can be transformative from a very young age.

HEI: Could there be challenges to the growth of the mushroom category?

Chilton: The two main challenges I see are the potential for misleading consumers and over hyped claims. Nammex has been a strong proponent of mushroom labeling best practices, particularly in properly identifying the fungal life stages. A mushroom is not the same as mycelium fermented grain — they have different actives and therefore different effects on the body. It’s important to consumer trust in the category that suppliers and manufacturers do not conflate the two.

More generally, as with any category seeing rapid growth, there comes a lot of outsized claims as brands try to jump on the trend. Trends can also attract lower-quality products. This can lead to category burnout as consumers don’t experience the health benefits they are expecting, due to the wrong or low-quality material used. I do believe though that mushrooms will have staying power to push through the hype phase and create greater knowledge of mushrooms for consumers and better expectations of their benefits.

HEI: As a Canadian company, how do you see the growth of the global mushroom market?

Chilton: Most trends typically start in the U.S. and take a couple of years before migrating to other countries. It’s been several years since rapid growth in demand started in the U.S., with no signs of slowing. Right now, we are seeing growth and demand in Canada, the UK, the EU, Australia and into Asia.

HEI: How will tariffs pose an issue for your company and the mushroom market?

Chilton: China produces over 94% of the world’s mushrooms and almost all organic mushroom extract powders (not to be confused with mycelium fermented grain) come from China, so there’s definitely tariff risk. Over 80% of supplement ingredients also come from China so the entire supplement market has inherent risk. Even at current tariff levels, many of these ingredients cannot be produced domestically at a competitive price. Some botanicals cannot be grown in North America at all. Companies will either be eating these tariff taxes, which leads to less profitable businesses, less expansion, less hiring or passing these taxes on to consumers in the form of higher prices. The lack of consistency, with rates announced at different levels from one day to the next, makes it very difficult for businesses to plan.

HEI: A 2021 appearance on Shark Tank is said to have boosted demand for a mushroom jerky product. Have you tried it?

Chilton: Yes, I’ve tried some mushroom jerky products and they’re pretty good depending on which flavors you like. The texture can be very similar to meat as you’ve seen with more alt-meat fungal-based products coming out now like bacon replacements.

About the Author: Sheldon Baker is a full-time freelance writer who covers health and wellness and other fun topics for Nutraceuticals World, Rodman Media, and other publications. He’s based in Northern California near Yosemite National Park, and enjoys exploring worldwide destinations, especially New York City, Mumbai, India, and Sydney, AU. He’s also happy to hang out at home with his wife and the many young foster children in their care. Send him an email at sbaker@bakerdillon.com.